Improved performance of MoS2 FET by in situ NH3 doping in ALD Al2O3 dielectric

Since defects such as traps and oxygen vacancies exist in dielectrics, it is difficult to fabricate a high-performance MoS$_{2}$ field-effect transistor (FET) using atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ as the gate dielectric layer. In this paper, NH$_{3}$ in situ doping, a process treatment approach during ALD growth of Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$, is used to decrease these defects for better device characteristics. MoS$_{2}$ FET has been well fabricated with this technique and the effect of different NH$_{3}$ in situ doping sequences in the growth cycle has been investigated in detail. Compared with counterparts, those devices with NH$_{3}$ in situ doping demonstrate obvious performance enhancements: $I_{\rm on}/I_{\rm off}$ is improved by one order of magnitude, from $1.33\times 10^{5}$ to $3.56\times 10^{6}$, the threshold voltage shifts from $-0.74 $ V to $-0.12$ V and a small subthreshold swing of 105 mV/dec is achieved. The improved MoS$_{2}$ FET performance is attributed to nitrogen doping by the introduction of NH$_{3}$ during the Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ ALD growth process, which leads to a reduction in the surface roughness of the dielectric layer and the repair of oxygen vacancies in the Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ layer. Furthermore, the MoS$_{2}$ FET processed by in situ NH$_{3}$ doping after the Al and O precursor filling cycles demonstrates the best performance; this may be because the final NH$_{3}$ doping after film growth restores more oxygen vacancies to screen more charge scattering in the MoS$_{2}$ channel. The reported method provides a promising way to reduce charge scattering in carrier transport for high-performance MoS$_{2 }$ devices.